Caldwell 31 / IC 405 / Sh229 Flaming Star Nebula

[x6gas]

OK so I've spent a loooooong time processing this data... mostly because I'm trying to remember the processing techniques that I used to know!

I actually had some trouble with the data acquisition for this one which meant I had to toss a fair few subs.  For some reason my CEM60-EC was playing up for the first time ever and I was getting big excursions in RA for some reason when guiding.  Unguided and with the encoder doing its work the tracking was amazing though I was getting some drift so I have something to figure out...  Another first but there is something wrong with my flats so the data has just been calibrated with darks.  I really should have imaged this with my dual Tak rig but I had my TS130 on the rig imaging another target...

Anyway this is another image of the Flaming Star Nebula in Auriga.  I captured the blue channel data when the target was near the zenith but it left me very light as the reflection part of nebula seems to be pretty faint.  I tried a standard HaRGB process on this but I really didn't like the result as the red looked way too harsh (and the Ha signal is all over the frame) so ended up processing the Ha emission data and bringing it in colourised as orange.  I've then tweaked and tweaked to the point that I don't know whether I've been making improvements or taking the result backwards so I'm throwing in the towel and calling this finished.  I've also processed just the blue dragon just for the heck of it...

Scope: TS130 f/6.6 Super Apo, Mount: iOptron CEM60-EC, Camera: Atik 460ex mono, Filters: Astrodon, Guiding: Atik OAG, QHY5L II, PHD2

Subs: Ha 16 x 600s, R 80 x 120s, G 80 x 120s, B 65 x 120 for a total integration time of 10 hours and 10 minutes.  Processed with AstroArt 5, RegiStar, Straton and Photoshop CS5.1

Thanks for looking.

 

 

 

[des anderson]

That`s a stunning pair of images, and the "Blue Dragon" is just stunning those wispy filaments...... Des

[x6gas]

1 hour ago, des anderson said:

That`s a stunning pair of images, and the "Blue Dragon" is just stunning those wispy filaments...... Des

That's kind Des thanks, but I don't know what has gone on with the main image as it looks nothing like that when I view it in PS!

This is closer to what I intended to post (but it's guess work as to how to change the image so the uploaded one looks closer to what I seen in PS.... I must be doing something wrong!

 

Thanks again!

Ian

[MartinB]

The flame as never seen before and it works!  I find the standard method of adding Ha to RGB does give a very dominant red.  The blue flame on it's own looks terrific but it has been quite softened in the combined version, again it looks great but somehow not quite right, simply based on how I'm used to seeing it.  Did you add it to the colour channel and to a luminence layer.

[x6gas]

12 minutes ago, MartinB said:

The flame as never seen before and it works!  I find the standard method of adding Ha to RGB does give a very dominant red.  The blue flame on it's own looks terrific but it has been quite softened in the combined version, again it looks great but somehow not quite right, simply based on how I'm used to seeing it.  Did you add it to the colour channel and to a luminence layer.

Thanks for the encouragement Martin - I'm feeling a bit disappointed at how this turned out even though it was basically an extended shake-down getting my kit up and running again.

I didn't use any kind of luminance here.  In an earlier version (that I haven't posted) I just had the Ha blended in to the R channel using blend mode lighten in PS (which as far as I can remember is what I used to do!) but in this version I created a starless Ha layer and added that in as a new channel (blended in screen mode).  I did the same with the blue dragon except I actually had two layers to boost the saturation.

Any tips on how I could do a better job gratefully received (or perhaps I need to book a holiday to France and go and see Olly!)

Thanks again, Ian

[MartinB]

2 minutes ago, x6gas said:

Thanks for the encouragement Martin - I'm feeling a bit disappointed at how this turned out even though it was basically an extended shake-down getting my kit up and running again.

I didn't use any kind of luminance here.  In an earlier version (that I haven't posted) I just had the Ha blended in to the R channel using blend mode lighten in PS (which as far as I can remember is what I used to do!) but in this version I created a starless Ha layer and added that in as a new channel (blended in screen mode).  I did the same with the blue dragon except I actually had two layers to boost the saturation.

Any tips on how I could do a better job gratefully received (or perhaps I need to book a holiday to France and go and see Olly!)

Thanks again, Ian

I wouldn't be too disappointed, it is a striking image!  Well, I think you should do some experimenting, I would be interested in your findings.  The process you've done with with the blur star removal and screen blend is useful for pulling out the faintest areas but can introduce other issues.  I don't think this image needs to be pulling out the ultra faint stuff.  Try a conventional Ha addition to the red channel then create a luminence which combines the flame with the Ha, you might want to give the flame a bit more stretch relative to the Ha here.  There are endless permutations as to how you go about this and for me it often comes down to endless trial and error!

[x6gas]

1 minute ago, MartinB said:

I wouldn't be too disappointed, it is a striking image!  Well, I think you should do some experimenting, I would be interested in your findings.  The process you've done with with the blur star removal and screen blend is useful for pulling out the faintest areas but can introduce other issues.  I don't think this image needs to be pulling out the ultra faint stuff.  Try a conventional Ha addition to the red channel then create a luminence which combines the flame with the Ha, you might want to give the flame a bit more stretch relative to the Ha here.  There are endless permutations as to how you go about this and for me it often comes down to endless trial and error!

That's a good point, Martin, thanks.  I was going round and round in circles with this one but I think I need a break from it and come back and have another go.  The Ha doesn't need much stretching at all but as I said I've no idea why it's so blown out in the first image I posted - doesn't look like that in PS.  I used to have a problem with the colour display of my laptop but I have a new computer and a calibrated monitor now so no excuse there!

[MartinB]

12 minutes ago, x6gas said:

That's a good point, Martin, thanks.  I was going round and round in circles with this one but I think I need a break from it and come back and have another go.  The Ha doesn't need much stretching at all but as I said I've no idea why it's so blown out in the first image I posted - doesn't look like that in PS.  I used to have a problem with the colour display of my laptop but I have a new computer and a calibrated monitor now so no excuse there!

Check the colour profile you are using for processing.  It needs to be uploaded as sRGB.   You can process in Adobe RGB or Prophoto RGB but iconvert to sRGB